Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, August 17, 2021.
The Texas Supreme Court and Masks
Bexar County and San Antonio got another green light for mask mandates Monday. Yesterday afternoon, 57th Civil District Court Judge Toni Arteaga ruled local face mask requirements can be enforced for schools and city and county-owned buildings in Bexar County. As Texas Public Radio’s Joey Palacios reports, it’s the latest pull in the legal tug of war between the state and local leaders over mask mandates.
The superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District says he’s still requiring masks in his schools despite the Texas Supreme Court’s recent siding with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. That’s because the Dallas superintendent says the decision doesn’t specifically apply to his district – a legal rationale other school districts have adopted as well. Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa joins us on the Standard today.
You’ve likely heard something about the United Nations report on climate change, which warns global warming is widespread, rapid and intensifying. It’s also a very dense, 4,000-page document. Texas Standard asked a group of climate scientists for their biggest takeaways from the report when it comes to the Lone Star State.
Daniel G. Benes Thomas Edison Impersonator
As science presenter and instructor for “Daniel G. Benes Science Shows,” Benes takes a unique approach to peaking children’s interest in science. He dresses up as Thomas Edison and performs with both antique and modern laboratory tools.
Texas Constitutional Amendments Special Session
This week, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a November 2 special election on eight proposed constitutional amendments. Here to talk to us about what the eight involve is Rocky Rhodes, a professor of law at South Texas College of Law in Houston and specialist in state and federal constitutional law.
“Violence In The Hill Country”
Nicholas Keefauver Roland is a historian at the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C. and author of “Violence In The Hill Country: The Texas Frontier in the Civil War Era.” Publisher UT Press writes the book “examines patterns of violence on the Texas frontier to illuminate white Americans’ cultural and political priorities in the nineteenth century.” Roland joins us for a talk about his book in this extended Q&A.
Despite passage in the Texas Senate, Republican legislation creating new restrictions on voting haven’t gone anywhere in the Texas House, due to quorum-busting Democrats. One of the biggest changes in the proposed legislation would be expanding the power of partisan poll watchers. Texas Tech Public Media’s Rob Avila reports.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
